Prop 1 Funding Could Bring New Behavioral Health Facility to Shasta County

What are Shasta County’s most pressing mental health services gaps? It’s the fundamental question that centers every monthly meeting of the Mental Health, Alcohol and Drug Advisory Board (MHADAB). 

On April 16, MHADAB members heard a presentation from Kimberly Johnson, the CEO of Arch Collaborative, a local nonprofit that connects victims of domestic abuse, human trafficking, and other crises that affect women, children and families and directs them towards appropriate services across the County. 

According to Johnson, the gaps in mental health care currently affecting the county are manifold. For one, the ER and jail are largely the only options for people experiencing a mental health crisis. There are also scant resources for youths trying to detox from substance use, she explained. And, Johnson continued, the county lacks adequate resources to help people recently cleared from a 5150 hold, or released from jail. 

Essentially, Johnson told MHADAB members, there are major cracks in the County’s support systems through which people are regularly slipping as they’re shuffled between medical facilities, different walk-in public agencies, foster homes, group homes, jail cells, or often the streets, depending on their circumstances.

Johnson was there to pitch the idea of a new state-funded multipurpose medical facility that could alleviate these unmet needs, a behavioral health facility where people can seek mental health and substance use treatment. Exactly what services would be provided at the facility will be determined by both Shasta County’s healthcare leadership and community feedback.

Johnson is serving as the project lead, but the collaboration working together to prepare an application for state grant funding includes Shasta County’s Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA), and representatives of Shasta County’s major healthcare providers, as well as Redding Council member and gastroenterologist Paul Dhanuka. 

The group, which calls itself the Behavioral Health Infrastructure Continuum Program (BHCIP) Ad Hoc hopes to secure Proposition 1 funding towards the new behavioral health infrastructure, which will serve both Shasta locals and the surrounding counties.

They’re planning ahead to meet strict grant requirements. Johnson said the committee doesn’t yet know the exact amount that the State will release in the latest round of funding, but are anticipating an announcement in mid May. Completed application documents are due to the state in September.

During the 2024 election, Californian voters were nearly split on whether Proposition 1 could bring meaningful change to the State’s mental health services. Voters statewide ultimately approved the Proposition by just 26,242 votes. Now that the bill has gone into effect, Shasta County’s BHCIP Ad-Hoc is applying for a similarly-named portion of available Prop 1 bond money that will help build new behavioral health projects around the state. 

Funding can be used to meet the needs of all populations, but the state is prioritizing proposals that focus on the unhoused, youth, elders, adults with disabilities, people within the justice system, and veterans.

As the group designs a grant proposal that would meet Shasta’s needs, Johnson said members hope to integrate the perspectives of multiple public agencies who have struggled to overcome the often intractable problems that arise at the intersection of mental health, housing, policing, and family support. 

The BHCIP Ad-Hoc will eventually circulate an online survey to gather even more information from the everyday people who have struggled to seek treatment for themselves or loved ones. They’ll also seek feedback from groups like the Redding Police Department’s Critical Intervention Response Team (CIRT), HHSA leadership, and the NorCal Continuum of Care.

According to the stipulations of the Prop 1 funding application, the potential facility can only have a single location, which is planned for Redding. But the BHCIP Ad-Hoc will have to think about how remote facilities will refer patients to the new facility, in order to meet one of the group’s top priorities, reaching underserved and rural communities.

The new facility, Johnson said, should be designed with the assumption that people from the surrounding counties will be among those commuting to Shasta County for services. 

“We have people coming from surrounding counties already to our local emergency departments,” she said, “and so we can build those relationships strategically on the front end, so when they come here they aren’t automatically just added weight.”  

If awarded Prop 1 funds, the project will require a developer, construction manager, and real estate attorney, all of which would be selected through an RFP process. The funds could either be used to build a new facility from the ground up, Johnson said, or opt for a very significant rehabilitation of an already existing facility. 

As the proposal is in early stages, the public is encouraged to ask questions and provide feedback at Prop1@archcollaborative.org. At this address, community members can also sign up to receive email updates and progress reports as they’re completed.

4.25.25 3:42 pm: We have updated the story to correct a statement about the role of CIRT and the NorCal Continuum of Care and our summary of remarks by Johnson about available resources for people leaving involuntary holds.

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